The Best Colleges In Virginia: U.S. News & World Report

The new school year is in full swing, and as high school seniors plan the next big step in their lives, many have turned their attention to finding colleges that best suit their educational and career ambitions. College rankings may play a role in the decision-making process; and in its 2018 rankings, U.S. News & World Report shows that Virginia has some of the country's best public universities and liberal arts colleges.

The University of Virginia (UVA) was ranked No. 3 among the country's top public universities, and Virginia Military Institute came in at No. 4 among best public liberal arts colleges in the U.S.

Others such as William & Mary and Washington and Lee also landed among the top of their classes. See the rankings below. (For more Virginia news, get Virginia Patch news alerts.)

Princeton was named the best university in the nation by U.S. News for the seventh year in a row. It is trailed by Harvard University in second and the University of Chicago, which is the third best national university, according to U.S. News.

Top 5 national universities in the country:
Princeton University (1)
Harvard University (2)
University of Chicago (3)
Yale University (3)
Columbia University (5)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (5)
Stanford University (5)

Six Virginia schools were ranked among the best universities in the U.S. (national ranking listed):
University of Virginia (25)
College of William & Mary (32)
Virginia Tech (69)
George Mason University (140)
Virginia Commonwealth (171)
Shenandoah University (223)

Notably, UVA and William & Mary were listed by U.S. News among the top 50 universities in the country overall.

There were several other rankings that U.S. News released Tuesday, including best liberal arts colleges, best public liberal arts colleges and best public universities.

The best national liberal arts college was Williams College in Massachusetts — its 15th year in the top spot —followed in second place by another Massachusetts school, Amherst College. Virginia had a strong showing in the liberal arts college category; Washington and Lee ranked among the best, coming in at No. 10.

Top 5 national liberal arts colleges:
Williams College (1)
Amherst College (2)
Bowdoin College (3)
Swarthmore College (3)
Wellesley College (3)

Ten Virginia colleges made the 2018 list of best national liberal arts colleges (national ranking among liberal arts colleges listed):

Washington and Lee University (10)
University of Richmond (23)
Virginia Military Institute (65)
Hampden-Sydney College (96)
Hollins University (112)
Randolph-Macon College (126)
Sweet Briar College (134)
Randolph College (138)
Roanoke College (138)
Emory and Henry College (168)

Among public schools, the California schools and U.S. military academies topped the 2018 list. Virginia had its highest ranking in this category, with UVA named the third best public university in the U.S.

Top 5 public universities in the U.S.:
University of California Berkeley (1)
University of California Los Angeles (1)
University of Virginia (3)
University of Michigan Ann Arbor (4)
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (5)

Virginia's top public universities:
University of Virginia (3)
College of William & Mary (6)
Virginia Tech (25)
George Mason University (68)
Virginia Commonwealth University (90)

The United States Military Academy at West Point ranked as the top public school among national liberal arts colleges, and Virginia Military Institute was not far behind, ranked 4th.

The top national liberal arts colleges among public schools:
United States Military Academy at West Point (1)
United States Naval Academy (2)
United States Air Force Academy (3)
Virginia Military Institute (4)
St. Mary’s College of Maryland (5)
New College of Florida (6)
University of Minnesota Morris (7)
University of North Carolina Asheville (7)

In its rankings, U.S. News also took a look at student debt, and it turns out that 70 percent of students who graduate from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., graduate with debt — the average amount of debt being $46,779 — the highest among national universities.

For national liberal arts colleges, that number is highest among graduates of St. John’s University in Minnesota, where 66 percent of students graduate with debt with an average amount of debt of $40,272. Students from Princeton, it turns out, graduate with the least amount of debt among national universities, as do students of Berea College in Kentucky when it comes to national liberal arts colleges.

U.S. News relies on various factors in determining the rankings, with retention, graduate rate performance and graduation rate accounting for 30 percent of the rankings.

“Graduation rate performance measures how well schools are graduating their students based on our predictions, which consider spending, test scores and the proportion of students receiving Pell Grants,” U.S. News explains.

Faculty resources account for 20 percent of the rankings — things like class size, student-to-faculty ratio — and financial resources — average spending on things that go directly toward educating undergraduates — accounts for 10 percent of the rankings. The rest of the rankings are based on expert opinion, student excellence and alumni giving.

U.S. News notes that the top national and top national liberal arts universities have significantly higher graduation and freshman retention rates than other schools. That’s a six-year graduation rate of 96 percent for the top 10 national universities and 92.5 percent for top 10 national liberal arts colleges, whereas that same figure for all numerically ranked national universities is 71.7 percent and 75.7 percent for national liberal arts colleges. Similarly, the freshman retention rate for top 10 national universities is 98.3 percent and 96.5 percent for top 10 national liberal arts colleges, compared to 87.2 percent for all numerically ranked national universities and 85.7 percent for all numerically ranked national liberal arts colleges, respectfully.

What do you think of the rankings? Let us know in the comments below.

By Feroze Dhanoa and Elizabeth Janney.

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Image of UVA rotunda via Flickr, licensed under CC BY 4.0.